“Irish Catholic Monk and Poet John O’Donohue’s writings have greatly influenced my painting this summer. Often as I work I listen to his book,Longing and Belonging. The Complete John O’Donohue Collection. GoodDark Series: The Maine Potato. tri-panel piece was inspired by John’s story of growing up in a small rural village. John O’Donohue illustrated spiritual insight using his experience of farming. One of his stories speaks of the Irish Potato Farmer who plants his spuds one season. A neighbor approached him a couple of days later and told him that his potatoes were planted too close together. The farmer spent the next day digging them up and moving them further apart. A week later a second neighbor approached the farmer and told him that the potatoes were now planted too far apart. The farmer promptly set about digging them up again and replanting them closer together. With this story John explained that in trying to get the seeds perfectly planted they were never able to grow roots and become plants. The point being that sometimes one needs to trust the growth that stillness in the dark soil can bring. To trust the good dark without always having to see and examine and make sure is correct. To know that growth occurs even when it’s not visible”

Erin McGee Ferrell

Good Dark Series: Potato taking Root (Panel 2)

Mixed Media on Wood

48 x 60 inches (40 lbs)

Erin McGee Ferrell

Philadelphia-Artist.com

Good Dark Series: Potato Leaf (Panel 3)

Mixed Media on Wood

48 x 60 inches (40 lbs)

Erin McGee Ferrell

“Maine is famous for its potatoes. Often in the north county, children are dismissed from school early to help with the potato gathering in the fall. Between Maine’s Potato and John O’Donohue’s potato stories, The Good Dark Series was born. Dark is good and life giving, and quiet, still, silent…growth happens here. Two Museum Quality Series have been created this year. Both works have been inspired by the writings of this Irish Catholic Monk. The first, Shifting Threshold, and the second, Good Dark: Maine Potato are the deepest works I’ve ever created. I can honestly say that after twenty five years, I have finally something significant to say and work deserving to be seen.”

Erin McGee Ferrell is inspired by architecture merging with landscape. The artist notices the spaces of sky and buildings between suspended electrical lines, seeking to paint the moments of sky that occur between the floors of a parking garage. Drawing is the foundation of her work as an artist. McGee Ferrell’s work may scream abstraction, but underneath adheres to visual accuracy and measurement. Addicted to adrenaline, the artist paints in highly public places where she is forced to paint fast and true. Recent work has focused on the merging of urban and coastal architectural structures in Philadelphia and Maine. McGee Ferrell is a natural entrepreneur who is determined to be an influential Erin McGee Ferrell. American Artist and important Contemporary American Artist.

Erin McGee Ferrell studied oil painting at Mount Holyoke College, Pennsylvania Academy of Art, University of the Arts Philadelphia, and The University of Louisville, KY. She has studied and created art in Italy and Nigeria. Collectors include TD Ameritrade, AtlantiCare New Jersey, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, INC. Philadelphia, The Episcopal Diocese of Boston, the CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, professional hockey player Kimmo Timonen, and America’s Cup Winner- Robert James Gale.